‘The world is taking notice of my film’

Actor-turned-director, Girish Malik, whose film Jal has been selected for the Busan Film Festival, could not be more flattered with the announcement.

“Making this film has been a long struggle and this news is a huge encouragement. Finally, the world is sitting up and taking notice of my film,” he says. “I have tried to humanise the universal issues of water and ecological imbalance by weaving them in a tapestry of life, love and human emotions. So we have an epic story of love, friendship, greed, jealousy, warring villages and the desperation to survive, that comments on some important issues affecting the world today.”

The movie also has a commercial angle to it. “I want to make films that are both artistic and entertaining. This is the new wave of cinema which is not bound by the traditional definitions of art house and commercial films, and I’m confident that the Indian audience will like it,” he says.

About the film’s lead actor Purab Kohli, Girish says, “Purab is a big prankster. Once we were shooting till late in the night and Purab made Saidah Jules (actor) believe that he was getting possessed by a spirit. The prank continued for a few days before Saidah realised the truth. The entire team had a great laugh about it”, Girish said.